That dollar cost for imported coal reflects an 11.6% increase since 2016 when imported coal cost $85 billion but a -29% decline from 2019 to 2020.
The top 5 importers of coal (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan) bought about two-thirds (66%) of globally imported coal.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries accounted for the highest dollar worth of imported coal in 2020 with purchases amounting to $77.7 billion or 81.9% of the worldwide total. In second place were European importers at 12.4%.
Smaller percentages were sold to Latin America (3.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.3%), North America (1.1%) and Oceania (0.1%) led by New Caledonia and Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2701 for coal and similar solid fuels made from coal.
Coal Imports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2020.
- China: US$16.4 billion (17.3% of total imported coal)
- Japan: $15.95 billion (16.8%)
- India: $15.87 billion (16.7%)
- South Korea: $9.5 billion (10%)
- Taiwan: $4.9 billion (5.2%)
- Vietnam: $3 billion (3.2%)
- Turkey: $2.7 billion (2.9%)
- Germany: $2.7 billion (2.9%)
- Malaysia: $2.3 billion (2.4%)
- Ukraine: $1.7 billion (1.8%)
- Brazil: $1.6 billion (1.7%)
- Philippines: $1.5 billion (1.6%)
- Thailand: $1.3 billion (1.4%)
- Pakistan: $1.2 billion (1.3%)
- Poland: $1 billion (1.1%)
Not one among the above countries increased their purchases of coal from 2019 to 2020.
Those countries that posted declines in their imported coal purchases were led by: Brazil (down -44%), Germany (down -40.9%), Ukraine (down -40.1%) and Poland (down -40%).
The listed 15 countries purchased 86.2% of all coal imported in 2020.
China
Coal Imports into China
China’s global purchases of imported coal totaled US$16.4 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which China imported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- Australia: US$7.9 billion (down -15.4% from 2019)
- Indonesia: $3.1 billion (up 4.1%)
- Russia: $2.4 billion (down -4.9%)
- Mongolia: $2 billion (down -34.8%)
- Canada: $678.9 million (up 1%)
- United States: $112.8 million (down -28.5%)
- Colombia: $105.6 million (down -10.2%)
- Kazakhstan: $31.3 million (up 74.1%)
- Mozambique: $9.6 million (down 0%)
- New Zealand: $8.7 million (up 78.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: $4.4 million (down 0%)
- Iran: $3.7 million (up 25.5%)
- Kyrgyzstan: $644,000 (down -86.3%)
- Malaysia: $371,000 (down -86.5%)
- Laos: $351,000 (down -66.8%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.998% of coal imported by China in 2020.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of coal to China from 2019 to 2020 were: New Zealand (up 78.7%), Kazakhstan (up 74.1%), Iran (up 25.5%) and Indonesia (up 4.1%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their coal supplied to Chinese importers included: Malaysia (down -86.5%), Kyrgyzstan (down -86.3%), Laos (down -66.8%) and Mongolia (down -34.8%).
Overall, the value of China’s imported coal fell by an average -13.4% from all supplying countries since 2019 when coal purchased cost $18.9 billion.
Japan
Coal Imports into Japan
Japan’s global purchases of imported coal totaled US$15.9 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Japan imported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- Australia: US$9.6 billion (down -29.8% from 2019)
- Indonesia: $2.1 billion (down -23.2%)
- Russia: $1.8 billion (down -20.9%)
- Canada: $1.1 billion (down -38%)
- United States: $1 billion (down -48.4%)
- China: $127.7 million (down -58.4%)
- Colombia: $74.7 million (down -58%)
- Vietnam: $43.3 million (down -28.1%)
- New Zealand: $40.6 million (down -13.5%)
- Mozambique: $18.2 million (down -89.5%)
- Kazakhstan: $17.6 million (up 233.5%)
- South Africa: $5.7 million (down -82.5%)
- Thailand: $1.1 million (down -50.9%)
- Taiwan: $675,000 (up 3.1%)
- Poland: $10,000 (up 233.3%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 100% of coal imported by Japan in 2020.
Among the above countries, 3 suppliers of coal to Japan expanded their sales from 2019 to 2020 namely Kazakhstan (up 233.5%), Poland (up 233.3%) and Taiwan (up 3.1%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their coal supplied to Japanese importers included: Mozambique (down -89.5%), South Africa (down -82.5%), China (down -58.4%) and Colombia (down -58%).
Overall, the value of Japan’s imported coal retreated by an average -31.4% from all supplying countries since 2019 when coal purchased cost $23.3 billion.
India
Coal Imports into India
India’s global purchases of imported coal totaled US$15.9 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which India imported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- Australia: US$5.3 billion (down -31.6% from 2019)
- Indonesia: $4.8 billion (down -30.4%)
- South Africa: $2.2 billion (down -19.2%)
- United States: $1.1 billion (down -25.3%)
- Russia: $681.3 million (down -20.1%)
- Canada: $426.1 million (down -54.4%)
- Singapore: $371.5 million (down -40.6%)
- Mozambique: $361.2 million (down -42.6%)
- Colombia: $256.8 million (up 613.9%)
- Switzerland: $129.6 million (down -9.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: $49.2 million (down -67.4%)
- New Zealand: $26.2 million (down -68.6%)
- Spain: $16.3 million (no 2019 data)
- Taiwan: $13.3 million (no 2019 data)
- China: $11.1 million (down -80.4%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.7% of coal imported by India in 2020.
Among the above countries, the sole growth supplier of coal to India from 2019 to 2020 was Colombia thanks to its 613.9% increase.
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their coal supplied to Indian importers included: China (down -80.4%), New Zealand (down -68.6%), United Arab Emirates (down -67.4%) and Canada (down -54.4%).
Overall, the value of India’s imported coal rose by an average 29.8% from all supplying countries since 2019 when coal purchased cost $22.6 billion.
Korea
Coal Imports into South Korea
South Korea’s global purchases of imported coal totaled US$9.5 billion in 2020. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which South Korea imported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- Australia: US$3.9 billion (down -32.4% from 2019)
- Russia: $2 billion (down -30.2%)
- Indonesia: $1.3 billion (down -29.7%)
- Canada: $1.2 billion (down -30.1%)
- United States: $413.3 million (down -26.7%)
- Colombia: $358.1 million (down -30.1%)
- China: $167.3 million (down -46.7%)
- Mozambique: $110.2 million (down -38.2%)
- South Africa: $95.4 million (down -71.6%)
- New Zealand: $21.7 million (down -44.6%)
- Vietnam: $12.8 million (down -55.7%)
- Peru: $9.2 million (down -25.3%)
- Philippines: $2.7 million (up 964.7%)
- Thailand: $10,000 (down -60.0%)
- Mongolia: $1,000 (down -90.9%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 100% of coal imported by South Korea in 2020.
Among the above countries, the lone growth supplier of coal to South Korea from 2019 to 2020 was the Philippines via its 964.7% gain.
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their coal supplied to Korean importers included: Mongolia (down -90.9%), South Africa (down -71.6%), Thailand (down -60%) and Vietnam (down -55.7%).
Overall, the value of South Korea’s imported coal fell by an average -32.7% from all supplying countries since 2019 when coal purchased cost $14.1 billion.
Searchable List of Coal Importing Countries in 2020
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. The right-most column highlights the percentage change in value from 2019 to 2020. An entry of 0% in that column means that no value for 2019 was available.
| Rank | Importer | Coal Imports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $16,385,099,000 | -13.4% |
| 2. | Japan | $15,948,045,000 | -31.4% |
| 3. | India | $15,871,091,000 | -29.8% |
| 4. | South Korea | $9,489,648,000 | -32.7% |
| 5. | Taiwan | $4,946,175,000 | -29.1% |
| 6. | Vietnam | $2,991,423,000 | -14.9% |
| 7. | Turkey | $2,721,307,000 | -22.7% |
| 8. | Germany | $2,715,612,000 | -40.9% |
| 9. | Malaysia | $2,301,963,000 | -21% |
| 10. | Ukraine | $1,688,737,000 | -40.1% |
| 11. | Brazil | $1,613,962,000 | -44% |
| 12. | Philippines | $1,478,354,000 | -20.6% |
| 13. | Thailand | $1,326,885,000 | -7.8% |
| 14. | Pakistan | $1,233,246,000 | -10.8% |
| 15. | Poland | $1,042,330,000 | -40% |
| 16. | Indonesia | $902,666,000 | -14.2% |
| 17. | France | $866,640,000 | -47.3% |
| 18. | Netherlands | $714,786,000 | -44.3% |
| 19. | Chile | $680,121,000 | -21% |
| 20. | Italy | $662,318,000 | -44.7% |
| 21. | Morocco | $638,995,000 | -20.9% |
| 22. | Belgium | $585,756,000 | -28.2% |
| 23. | Canada | $568,982,000 | -23.8% |
| 24. | Israel | $452,828,000 | -26.7% |
| 25. | United Kingdom | $414,424,000 | -44.7% |
| 26. | Bangladesh | $392,052,000 | +2.4% |
| 27. | United States | $388,745,000 | -30.8% |
| 28. | Austria | $374,775,000 | -41.4% |
| 29. | Czech Republic | $359,558,000 | -33.4% |
| 30. | Spain | $339,094,000 | -57.8% |
| 31. | Russia | $319,110,000 | -13.2% |
| 32. | Slovakia | $311,967,000 | -40% |
| 33. | Hong Kong | $295,588,000 | -56.8% |
| 34. | Sweden | $259,743,000 | -41.9% |
| 35. | Dominican Republic | $249,809,000 | +73.5% |
| 36. | Finland | $225,354,000 | -40.3% |
| 37. | Cambodia | $224,279,000 | -44.5% |
| 38. | South Africa | $212,932,000 | -52.9% |
| 39. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $181,104,000 | -40.2% |
| 40. | Hungary | $165,874,000 | -38.4% |
| 41. | Sri Lanka | $159,441,000 | -6.3% |
| 42. | United Arab Emirates | $156,335,000 | -31.9% |
| 43. | Guatemala | $146,325,000 | -49.2% |
| 44. | Argentina | $134,244,000 | -6.8% |
| 45. | New Caledonia | $97,997,000 | -20.6% |
| 46. | Belarus | $81,899,000 | -64.3% |
| 47. | Norway | $71,991,000 | -5.7% |
| 48. | Kazakhstan | $71,781,000 | -18% |
| 49. | Brunei Darussalam | $65,867,000 | +81.5% |
| 50. | Ireland | $65,616,000 | -7.5% |
| 51. | Bulgaria | $64,238,000 | -20.2% |
| 52. | Senegal | $62,012,000 | -16.8% |
| 53. | Egypt | $61,334,000 | -72.6% |
| 54. | Romania | $59,998,000 | -50.3% |
| 55. | Ethiopia | $57,170,000 | -18.7% |
| 56. | Panama | $56,811,000 | +22.7% |
| 57. | Nepal | $56,706,000 | -73% |
| 58. | Mexico | $55,415,000 | -93.3% |
| 59. | Kenya | $41,715,000 | -7.3% |
| 60. | Myanmar | $41,650,000 | +48.1% |
| 61. | Croatia | $37,109,000 | -31.6% |
| 62. | Mauritius | $36,745,000 | -44.3% |
| 63. | Singapore | $34,033,000 | -26% |
| 64. | Australia | $29,568,000 | -17.7% |
| 65. | Djibouti | $29,314,000 | -29.2% |
| 66. | Yemen | $28,335,000 | -18% |
| 67. | Uzbekistan | $26,803,000 | +31.8% |
| 68. | Saudi Arabia | $24,815,000 | -36.9% |
| 69. | Serbia | $23,657,000 | -28.2% |
| 70. | Greece | $23,014,000 | -21.8% |
| 71. | Peru | $22,822,000 | -46.6% |
| 72. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $20,728,000 | +20.5% |
| 73. | Iceland | $19,995,000 | -20.5% |
| 74. | Madagascar | $18,525,000 | -57% |
| 75. | Lithuania | $17,272,000 | -40.5% |
| 76. | Portugal | $16,820,000 | -91.3% |
| 77. | Trinidad/Tobago | $16,232,000 | -76% |
| 78. | Georgia | $15,114,000 | -39.7% |
| 79. | Moldova | $13,894,000 | -20.5% |
| 80. | Lebanon | $13,195,000 | +145.9% |
| 81. | Honduras | $13,188,000 | +544.3% |
| 82. | North Macedonia | $12,719,000 | -48.4% |
| 83. | Congo | $12,434,000 | +1,076% |
| 84. | Togo | $12,031,000 | -54.1% |
| 85. | Kyrgyzstan | $11,700,000 | +19.3% |
| 86. | Jordan | $11,657,000 | +17.9% |
| 87. | Oman | $9,212,000 | +8.6% |
| 88. | Nigeria | $8,955,000 | +49.3% |
| 89. | Namibia | $8,912,000 | -0.7% |
| 90. | Eswatini | $8,571,000 | -8.9% |
| 91. | Uganda | $7,967,000 | +12.9% |
| 92. | Denmark | $6,935,000 | +34,575% |
| 93. | Albania | $6,508,000 | +44.6% |
| 94. | Luxembourg | $6,108,000 | -5.3% |
| 95. | New Zealand | $5,913,000 | -54% |
| 96. | Benin | $5,826,000 | -36.1% |
| 97. | Zambia | $5,769,000 | +13.9% |
| 98. | Mozambique | $5,048,000 | +101.4% |
| 99. | Bhutan | $4,757,000 | +88.3% |
| 100. | Bahrain | $4,751,000 | -53.8% |
See also Average Coal Prices Compared for Top Coal Exporters by Country, Coal Exports by Country, Japan’s Top Trading Partners and Japan’s Top 10 Imports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 6, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 6, 2021
Wikipedia, Coal. Accessed on June 6, 2021
